Ithaca is a city with a strong sense of community and a passion for locally produced products. There are many local wineries, however people always questioned why there was no local brewery. Dan Mitchell, the founder of the Ithaca Beer Company, set out to answer that question by creating a brewery that would exemplify “The Spirit of the Finger Lakes”.

The original concept for the brewery began in 1995, but it wasn’t until December of 1997 that the brewing system was purchased. It was discovered by chance after investigating another system in Texas that looked great on paper, but wasn’t adequate for the needs of the brewery. After passing on that system Dan had some time to kill and decided to travel around. During a visit to a brewpub in Austin, TX he discovered what would become our brewing system. He went in and asked them what kind of beers they made. They told him that they had stopped making beer and were actually preparing to sell their system. After checking it out the purchase was made and a month later the system was shipped up to Ithaca.